yalan

Yalan is a Turkish noun meaning lie or falsehood. It denotes a statement or claim that is not true and is used in everyday speech as well as in media and literature. The word appears in various phrases, for example yalan söylemek (to lie), yalan haber (false news), and yalan dolan (deceit; tricks). It can function as an attributive element in compounds such as yalan haber to describe falseness in the second noun. In Azerbaijani, yalan similarly means lie, reflecting the close linguistic relationship between Turkish and Azerbaijani; the plural in Turkish is yalanlar.

The term is of Turkic origin and has cognates in other Turkic languages. While the exact etymology is not always stated in concise sources, yalan is widely recognized as part of the basic Turkish lexicon for describing deception. In usage, yalan is contrasted with gerçek (truth) and with dürüstlük (honesty). Common idioms include yalan dolan, which refers to deceitful speech or unscrupulous behavior.

In culture, yalan frequently appears in Turkish titles, songs, and literary works focusing on deceit or moral questions; the word is also used in journalism and commentary to label untrue claims. See also truth, honesty, deception.